March 21, 2013

• Running in circles

  Where do I begin….It’s just been nonstop aggravation when it comes to my knee and dealing with these insurance doctors.  I finally met with the surgeon on Tuesday, and finally get down to the nitty gritty of it all.  My patella is damaged.  There isn’t much he can do for me, he can go in and do an exploratory, perhaps debride the back of my knee cap and drain the fluid that have been trapped there.  Problem is that because I have not responded well to the cortisone injections if he goes in I have a 50/50 chance of needing to have a knee replacement done within 6 months.  There will be no waiting 15-20 years it will be deemed medically necessary or I’ll end up crippled.  Another option is to replace my patella, with that there is still a chance I will need a full knee replacement but if it takes I can wait on the knee replacement.  If we do nothing but physical therapy I could end up even worse.  To top if all off he feels I am beginning to have issues with my left knee since I am weight bearing only on my left for almost a year now. So if we don’t remedy my right knee soon, I could end up with both knees needing to be done.  Another concern would be how well would I do with the knee replacement, especially being that I am not doing well with the cortisone.

  I couldn’t help it, I ended up bawling my eyes out in the office.  I’m so tired of being tired and being in pain.  I gave in and opted to try one more cortisone injection.  He used the ultrasound to guide it again and used half of what I was given the last time.  I woke up yesterday morning in pain and all my joints were swollen and stiff.  He told me to wait a week and see if the injection helps.  If I am still hurting I have to come back and decisions need to be made.  At this point I think it’s time even with the grim possibilities of the outcome to bite the bullet and at least do an exploratory if not just replace my patella.  I stayed home from work, which was a good thing because I received a call from the medical supplier to come in for a fitting, so now I am wearing a new knee brace.  They said it would help realign my patella and keep it in place while I try and rebuild the muscles.  All I know is that it hurts like a bitch to keep it on, but I’m persevering through it as best as I can.  

  Then I received a call from my lawyer today saying that no-fault has finally dropped me as of the 25th.  I’m beginning to wonder if the doctors were in cahoots to push off surgery until no-fault dropped me so my private insurance steps in to authorize it.  So now I will have to start getting referrals and authorizations and beginning paying out co-payments, which sucks.  The bright side to it is that I can obtain a much better surgeon because my private insurance will give me better coverage and open my options to a representative in my case.

  I still cannot believe that this stupid accident has caused me so much pain and aggravation.  I feel like my world has been on pause too long and I’m afraid the rental will expire before I meet my own end.   *sighs* 

  • 12:21 pm
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